FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. (KNWA/KFTA) — Brutally cold Arctic air will settle in tonight behind a gusty north wind. This unseasonably cold pattern will continue through a good portion of the upcoming week. The National Weather Service has issued a Cold Weather Advisory seen below, because wind chill values tonight could get to as low as 5 below zero.

Extreme cold could expose residents of several states to conditions like hypothermia and frostbite over the weekend.

The past couple of days provided a brief respite with temperatures above freezing, but the Arctic chill has returned with a vengeance, bringing bone-chilling conditions right on schedule.The cold air moved in Saturday and is sticking around through Sunday,

A potent shot of Arctic air starts settling in Monday as a massive dip in the jet stream pulls in frigid air across the entire eastern half of the country. Temperatures are set to drop as low as 20 degrees below average Tuesday and Wednesday with highs only reaching the teens,

We'll see the warmest day so far this year before getting back into dangerous cold weather next week, starting with MLK Day.

The past couple of days have been unusually mild. It was nice, but I hope you didn’t get used to it. We are counting down the minutes until a strong arctic cold front arrives. This will cause brutally cold air to spill into the region Friday night into Saturday morning.

Weather forecasts next week are calling for an arctic freeze — literally, with a blast of below-zero arctic air hitting the state — raising safety concerns, especially for folks without homes, kids going to and from school,